Stanford Impact Founder Awards Fuel Graduates’ High-Impact Ventures

Projects seek to address social and environmental challenges

July 09, 2024

| by Margaret Steen

Top row, SIF Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship winners, left to right: Dawn Androphy, Haley King, Anthony Rangel, Pedro Siciliano, Charlotte Weiner. Bottom row, SIF Ecopreneurship Fellowship winners, left to right: Meghan Wood, Sankalp Banerjee, Joseph Kao, Brandon Clark, Raj Tilwa. | Photos by courtesy

Stanford alumni have been awarded almost $1.3 million in prize money from the Stanford Impact Founder (SIF) program. The program gives SIF Fellowships and Prizes to graduating advanced degree students who plan to start high-impact ventures addressing social and environmental problems.

This year’s SIF awardees — selected through a competitive application process — are tackling a wide range of issues, from broadening access to medical care, to enhancing the second life of batteries. The awards recognize both the goals of the ventures and the leadership potential of the graduates who will lead them.

The Stanford Impact Founder program provides a cornerstone upon which our graduates build new organizations that advance our mission to change lives, change organizations, and change the world.

Paul Oyer, senior associate dean for academic affairs

The SIF program, which has been supporting GSB graduates since 2009, is a key part of Stanford GSB’s multilayered support for students who are interested in entrepreneurship and want to solve difficult social and environmental problems. Now, in collaboration with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, the program currently awards two types of SIF Fellowships — Social Entrepreneurship and Ecopreneurship — and the number of applicants continues to grow, now including graduate students from across the university for the Ecopreneurship track.

Winners of SIF Fellowships receive $110,000 in funding in the year following graduation, year-long personalized coaching, and an invitation to access Stanford Venture Studio resources during the fellowship year.

“Each of the SIF awardees is making a tough choice upon graduation not to take a conventional (usually well-paid) job, and instead to try to build an organization that by definition is very risky. Social and environmental entrepreneurs must navigate broken markets, challenging power dynamics, and human and planetary suffering,” says Paul Oyer, the Mary and Rankine Van Anda Entrepreneurial Professor and Professor of Economics, and senior associate dean for academic affairs. “The Stanford Impact Founder program provides a cornerstone upon which our graduates build new organizations that advance our mission to change lives, change organizations, and change the world.”

Stanford Impact Founder Fellowship: Social Entrepreneurship Winners

Five members of the MBA class of 2024 were awarded Social Entrepreneurship fellowships.

“This year’s SIF awardees in social entrepreneurship are tackling an incredible spectrum of social challenges, from health and economic inequality to food insecurity and workforce development,” says Amanda Greco, associate director of the GSB’s Social Entrepreneurship Program. “It’s notable that these students are not chasing trends — their visions are not reactions to the latest catastrophe or an urge to apply new technology just because it’s exciting. These graduating students went through a rigorous selection process, and they stood out for their demonstrated commitment to understanding the problems they seek to ameliorate and innovative ideas for how to make a difference in the lives of others.”

This year’s SIF Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship winners:

Dawn Androphy, MBA ’24, Allswell: Bringing “by us for us” support and care to LGBTQ+ young adults
Haley King, MBA ’24, Paxos Appeals: Helping low-income patients access high-cost medical care
Anthony Rangel, MBA ’24, float: Increasing dignity and reducing stress for low-income Americans
Pedro Siciliano, MBA ’24, Teachy: Helping K-12 teachers in Latin America with their out-of-class duties through AI
Charlotte Weiner, MBA ’24, Frontdoor: Public benefits unlocked

Stanford Impact Founder Fellowship: Ecopreneurship Winners

The Ecopreneurship fellowship, which launched last year, is part of Stanford Ecopreneurship programs, a partnership between Stanford GSB and the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

“Entering its second year, the SIF-Eco program will support five bold and ambitious fellows in building cleaner infrastructure and more sustainable communities. We focus on building their momentum and strengthening their leadership to meet the scale, urgency, and complexity of the sustainability challenges they are tackling,” says Adelaide Coman, associate director of Co-curricular Ecopreneurship Programs.

This year’s SIF Ecopreneurship Fellowship winners:

Meghan Wood, MBA/MS Environment & Resources ’24, raya power: Democratizing residential solar for Americans traditionally overlooked by electrification initiatives
Sankalp Banerjee, MBA/MS Environment & Resources ’24, Insitu Energy: Transitioning energy assets for tomorrow
Joseph Kao, MS ’24, CircuBat: Revolutionizing second-life batteries: unleashing reliability through innovative testing solutions
Brandon Clark, PhD ’24, Recovered Potential: Sanitation for a sustainable world
Raj Tilwa, MBA ’24, Focal: Revolutionizing and decarbonizing how we heat people

Deep Support for Impact Careers

Stanford offers students numerous ways to develop their skills in entrepreneurship and deepen their knowledge of the social and environmental issues they want to tackle. Co-curricular offerings include the Impact Design Immersion Fellowship, Summer Ecopreneurial Immersion, Social Management Internship Fund, and Ecopreneurial Summer Internship Program.

SIF finalists are also eligible for the SIF Prize. Awardees receive $20,000 in acknowledgment of their venture and leadership potential, in addition to personalized impact and entrepreneurship coaching and access to workshops and a community of peer impact entrepreneurs.

This year’s SIF Prize winners, Social Entrepreneurship track: